Evil Flashcards
Ferdinand’s Malicious Control and Obsession
Incestuous Obsession: Ferdinand’s incestuous desire for the Duchess, while not explicitly acted upon, drives his violent and irrational behavior. “My imagination will carry me / To see her in the shameful act of sin” (Act 2, Scene 5).
Cruel Imprisonment: Ferdinand imprisons the Duchess in her own palace and subjects her to psychological torture. “I am chained to endure all your tyranny” (Act 4, Scene 1).
The Cardinal’s Corruption and Hypocrisy
Manipulation and Murder: The Cardinal manipulates others and orders the murder of his enemies. “Thou art poisoned with that book” (Act 5, Scene 2) - The Cardinal poisons his mistress Julia to keep his secrets safe.
Bosola’s Role as an Instrument of Evil
Spying and Betrayal: Bosola is hired to spy on the Duchess and reports her actions to her brothers, leading to her downfall. “I am your creature” (Act 1, Scene 1).
Psychological Torture of the Duchess
Presentation of Dead Man’s Hand: Ferdinand gives the Duchess a dead man’s hand, pretending it is her husband’s, to horrify her. “Here is discovered, behind a traverse, the artificial figures of Antonio and his children, appearing as if they were dead” (Act 4, Scene 1).
Execution of the Duchess and Her Children
The calculated and cold-blooded murder of the Duchess and her innocent children highlights the extreme evil of the antagonists.
Strangulation: The Duchess is strangled on Ferdinand’s orders, a brutal end for her defiance. “Pull, and pull strongly, for your able strength / Must pull down heaven upon me” (Act 4, Scene 2).
General Atmosphere of Corruption and Betrayal
Corruption in the Court: The brothers’ influence has corrupted the court, making it a place where treachery and immorality flourish. “A prince’s court / Is like a common fountain, whence should flow / Pure silver drops in general, but if’t chance/ Some cursed example poison’t near the head, / Death and diseases through the whole land spread” (Act 1, Scene 1).
Satan’s Deception and Manipulation
Entering the Serpent: Satan possesses the serpent to deceive Eve. “In at his mouth / The Devil entered, and his brutal sense, / In heart or head, possessing, soon inspired / With act intelligential”
Flattering and Deceiving Eve: Satan flatters Eve and lies about the effects of eating the forbidden fruit. “Ye shall not die: / How should ye? by the fruit? it gives you life / To knowledge”
Eve’s Transgression
Rationalizing the Sin: Eve convinces herself that eating the fruit will elevate her and Adam. “What fear I then? rather, what know to fear / Under this ignorance of good and evil, / Of God or death, of law or penalty?” (Book 9, lines 773-775). Eating the Fruit: Eve eats the forbidden fruit, directly disobeying God’s command. “Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat: / Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat / Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe, / That all was lost” (Book 9, lines 780-784).
Eve’s Persuasion of Adam
Enticing Adam: Eve uses her bond with Adam to convince him to eat the fruit as well. “Adam, freely taste, / And fear of death deliver to the winds”
Adam’s Deliberate Sin
Choosing Eve Over God: Adam decides to share in Eve’s fate rather than obey God’s command. “How can I live without thee, how forgo / Thy sweet converse and love so dearly joined, / To live again in these wild woods forlorn?”
The Immediate Consequences
Shame and Guilt: Adam and Eve feel shame and try to cover their nakedness. “So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs, / Or dim suffusion veiled. Thus began / Outrage from lifeless things”
Mutual Accusations: Adam and Eve begin to blame each other for their downfall. “Thus they in mutual accusation spent / The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning, / And of their vain contest appeared no end”
Satan’s Triumph
Satan’s Glee: Satan revels in the success of his scheme to corrupt humanity. “Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell / Receive thy new possessor”
